Being from Yorkshire, I know very few people who are unfamiliar with the “nearly there” trees, famously associated with a drive down to Cornwall. The staple landmark embodies a significant milestone of a journey that people from both the North and the South can recognise. It feels almost surreal driving down the M5 and witnessing the changing landscape, notable manufacturing belts, smoother roads, and better signage. Not to mention the famous Gloucester Service’s that unfailingly draw in curious commuters.
But how come these shiny infrastructures seem so foreign to Northerners?
But how come these shiny infrastructures seem so foreign to Northerners? I’m sure both this experience and question floats through everybody who either commutes or relocates anywhere below Birmingham (wherever the North-South boarder is supposed to be drawn).
Since the infamous “levelling up” agenda introduced by the Conservative Party in 2019, strategies to create more jobs and to drive economic growth in the North have been prominent in the political playing field.
The classic policy for economic growth is to announce investment plans, pray that trickle-down economics is not actually a hoax, and to apologise when funding only stretches to the end of the Prime Ministers’ garden. It happened under Cameron’s government with his Northern Powerhouse Agenda, under Boris Johnson’s official “levelling up” agenda which ended with more symbolic ribbon-cutting than results, and continues under Starmer’s government with Labour’s promise to move away from austerity, whilst also gluing their feet to the floor.
The Labour manifesto introduced ‘a new industrial strategy’ to kickstart economic growth. However empirical research by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that ‘industrial policies can raise regional and industry productivity and regional employment, but on average these effects are small.’
There still lies high ambiguity over the effect Labour’s industrial policies that are situated in eight ‘growth driving’ sectors. The Economics Observatory identifies these as ‘advanced manufacturing, clean energy, creative industries, defence, digital and technology, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services’.
Success of this strategy relies on the receptiveness of the industry. Furthermore, success of industrial policy depends on the ability and skills/qualifications of the workforce.
There is a notable disparity with educational outcomes between the North and South of England. I would argue that this inequality is significant because protecting future generations opportunities is one of the most important catalysts in dissolving the North-South divide as we see it today.
Following GCSE and A-Level results in 2022 the House of Lords acknowledged that ‘there is regional variation in the average size of the disadvantage gap’. According to a report published in 2021 ‘children who live in the north of England are more likely to live in poverty and be absent from school, both of which are correlated with lower educational achievement’. The Labour government's strategy to tackle these ‘barriers to opportunities’ is to recruit 6,500 new teachers in key subjects. However this policy inducts time lags. Furthermore, recent strike action talks from the National Education Union could potentially threaten the success of Labour’s plans for education.
The question of whether enough is being done to reduce the North-South divide is unclear. It is evident that the issue is highly relevant and outstanding in government policy. Whilst the manufacturing sector in Yorkshire and The Humber have been described as a ‘shining beacon’ in terms of workforce growth, promoting a positive narrative for the future of North-South economic integration, social and economic disparities still remain as barriers to northern economic development.